Is the Craftsman Drill Driver Worth It for Your Home Toolbox?
Worth it, if you're an occasional-project owner
around $60price at time of review — check Amazon for current
- Worth it ifYou tackle home projects every few weekends rather than every day
- Skip it ifYou need all-day runtime on a jobsite
Amazon shoppers rate it 4.7 out of 5 across 6,000 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
By Errol Whitfield, tools & DIY · updated 2026-07-29
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Picture the shelf bracket that's been leaning against your wall for two weekends because the drill you own is either dead, corded, or borrowed from a neighbor who wants it back. You finally have twenty minutes free, and the last thing you want is to fight a battery that won't hold a charge or a chuck that eats ten minutes just to swap bits. That's the moment a craftsman drill driver either earns its keep or becomes one more thing gathering dust in the garage.
Here's the part worth understanding before you buy: this kit runs two gears, not one. Low gear caps the motor around 350 rpm but multiplies torque, so driving a long screw into hardwood doesn't strip the head or stall the motor, it just turns slower with more force behind each rotation. Flip to high gear and the same motor spins closer to 1,500 rpm, trading torque for speed, which is what you want for boring holes through wood or thin metal. That gearbox is the whole trick: one motor pretending to be two tools depending on what you're fighting. The keyless chuck backs this up by letting you swap a driving bit for a drill bit in seconds instead of hunting for a chuck key, so switching tasks mid-project doesn't break your momentum. The LED ring around the chuck exists for the same reason: closets, under-sink cabinets, the inside of a shed, anywhere the light needs to follow the bit. And because the included battery is a smaller 1.3 amp-hour cell, Craftsman built the charger to refill it in under an hour rather than leaning on a bigger battery you'd wait half a day for.
You're not buying raw power here, you're buying a tool that switches jobs as fast as you do around the house: screws in the morning, shelf holes in the afternoon, without swapping tools or hunting for a charger. The smaller battery is the tradeoff for that quick turnaround, and for occasional home use, that trade makes sense.
Worth it if
- You tackle home projects every few weekends rather than every day
- You want one tool that handles both driving screws and drilling holes
- You'd rather swap bits in seconds than fuss with a chuck key
Skip it if
- You need all-day runtime on a jobsite
- You're driving lag bolts or heavy fasteners constantly
- You already own a higher amp-hour 20V battery system
Not built for daily jobsite use or constant heavy fastening; the battery capacity is sized for home projects, not a full workday.
If you tackle a project every few weekends, hanging shelves, assembling furniture, fixing the odd loose hinge, this is a quiet yes. If you're driving lag bolts into deck framing daily or running it on a jobsite, the smaller battery and 1,500 rpm ceiling will have you charging more than working, so look at a higher amp-hour kit instead.
Check price on Amazon · around $60 or Add it to your Amazon cart to sit on it
Before you go
How to change drill bits on a Craftsman drill?
Twist the keyless chuck counterclockwise to open the jaws, drop in the bit, then twist clockwise until it grips tight, no chuck key needed.
What are common problems with Craftsman drills?
The main limitation isn't the motor, it's the included 1.3 amp-hour battery, which recharges fast but won't run all day under heavy, continuous use.
Is Craftsman better than Milwaukee?
Milwaukee kits generally pair larger batteries with higher prices aimed at daily professional use, while this Craftsman kit is built and priced for home projects, so it comes down to which job you're actually doing.
Full spec sheet
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
|---|---|
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 1500 rpm |
| Voltage | 20 volts |
| Amperage | 1.3 A |
| Maximum Chuck Size | 0.5 inches |
| Additional Features | Variable Speed |
| Number of Speeds | 2 |
| Speed | 3400 rpm |